Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to web-based services provided to users of computerized devices and overlaying uniform user interfaces over equivalent services in particular.
Discussion of the Related Art
Travel suppliers such as airlines typically provide customers a website and possibly a mobile website where customers can take actions like checking-in to a flight, selecting a seat, checking flight information and the like. Such customers are users of the travel suppliers websites or computerized applications and need to navigate to the site URL to use such services. In the site, customers are also required to navigate a menu system to reach the page of the desired action. While these services are generally comparable, each supplier has a separate website, at a different address (URL), with a different menu system and look-and-feel. Furthermore, the different settings of each site are changed from time to time by the suppliers. Typically, to reach such a site, users need to manually enter the URL, or click a link provided in a message such as an email or SMS to reach the specific address or perform a specific action within the site. Separate bookmarks or messages are required for each supplier or action. This lack of consistency is detrimental from the user's perspective as the user needs to learn how to navigate and use multiple different systems that essentially perform the same operations, and needs to manually retrieve the right addresses for each supplier and/or action.
In order to provide a user with one-click access to these services, a set of bookmarks or messages needs to be stored on the customer's mobile device or computerized device a-priori, taking into account all the possible travel suppliers that may provide such services. In such a system, all these addresses also have to be updated from time to time in case a provider is added or changes the location or structure of their mobile website. Also in such a case, specific information pertaining to a future reservation made by a traveler or a customer cannot be encoded as it is not known a-priori.
Alternatively, the user is required to either manually enter a URL in real time, or find the link in a message sent to him. Each of these actions is time consuming and relatively uncomfortable to perform on a mobile device.